Air-Source Heat Pump Controls Patent Landscape 2026
Air-source heat pump controls is a growth-stage field anchored firmly in Chinese industry, with Gree Electric Appliance holding the largest position and the Haier group collectively accounting for a substantial share of activity. Filing volume has expanded 29% in the recent window, and the technology is still rising — publication lag means the most recent counts are understated.
Gree leads a concentrated but contested Chinese-dominated field
Gree Electric Appliance holds the top position with 60 patent families, followed by Haier Smart Home at 39 and Qingdao Haier Air Conditioning Electronics at 31. The top five filers collectively represent 24% of the hundred largest filers’ combined total, signalling meaningful concentration at the apex while leaving room for challengers.
The tier structure shows a clear leader-challenger gap: Gree’s 60 families versus Haier Smart Home’s 39 represents a roughly 50% margin. Below the top two, a dense mid-tier of Chinese manufacturers and universities clusters between 10 and 31 families, suggesting competitive pressure but no dominant second platform.
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gree Electric Appliance Inc of Zhuhai | 60 | |
| 2 | Haier Smart Home Co Ltd | 39 | |
| 3 | Qingdao Haier Air Conditioning Electronics Co Ltd | 31 | |
| 4 | Qingdao Haier Air Conditioner General Corp Ltd | 29 | |
| 5 | GUANGDONG CHIGO HEATING & VENTILATION EQUIP CO LTD | 18 | |
| 6 | Octopus Energy Heating Ltd | 17 | |
| 7 | Zhejiang Zhongguang Electric Co Ltd | 17 | |
| 8 | Beijing University of Technology | 17 | |
| 9 | ZHEJIANG AMA & HIEN TECH | 17 | |
| 10 | Qingdao Economic and Technological Development Zone Haier Water Heater Co Ltd | 15 |
| # | Applicant | Patent families | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | GD MIDEA HEATING & VENTILATING EQUIP CO LTD | 14 | |
| 12 | CHINA SOUTHWEST ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN & RES INST CO… | 14 | |
| 13 | GUANGDONG TCL INTELLIGENT HEATING & VENTILATING EQ… | 13 | |
| 14 | Tianjin University | 13 | |
| 15 | Qingdao Hisense Hitachi Air Conditioning Systems Co Ltd | 12 | |
| 16 | Qingdao Haier New Energy Electric Appliance Co Ltd | 11 | |
| 17 | Guangdong Midea Air Conditioning Equipment Co Ltd | 10 | |
| 18 | Zhejiang King Co Ltd | 10 | |
| 19 | Guangdong New Energy Technology Development Co Ltd | 9 | |
| 20 | HEFEI MIDEA HEATING & VENTILATING EQUIP | 9 |
Gree’s lead, combined with Haier group’s fragmented but collectively large footprint across multiple subsidiaries, implies that any entrant seeking freedom-to-operate in core refrigeration and air-conditioning control subclasses faces a concentrated prior-art landscape in. China. Outside. China, the landscape is comparatively sparse, presenting a potential opening for non-Chinese players.
The most recent 18–24 months of filings are under-counted due to publication lag and should be read as a floor, not a ceiling, for current activity. Longer-window growth, applicant concentration, and technology-route coverage are therefore more reliable signals than the latest-year bar alone.
Annual filings are rising; refrigeration control dominates the technology mix
The filing trend and technology composition together show a field in active expansion, concentrated in refrigeration-cycle control, with adjacent branches in air-conditioning systems and domestic heating remaining secondary but material contributors.
Annual filing trend
Annual filings climbed from 76 families in 2017 to a recorded high of 128 in 2024, with the 2025 figure of 107 and 2026 figure of 9 reflecting publication lag rather than a genuine slowdown. The consistent upward trajectory across the full window confirms growth-stage dynamics.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaTechnology composition
F25B (Refrigeration and heat pumps) dominates the IPC mix by a wide margin, reflecting the core thermodynamic control focus of the corpus. F24F (Air conditioning and ventilation) is the next most prominent class, followed at a distance by F24D (Domestic heating systems) and F24H (Fluid and water heaters). Sparse coverage in G06F, G06N, and G05D indicates that AI-driven and advanced digital control approaches remain an under-developed branch relative to core refrigeration filings.
↗ Hover for values · click a bar to ask EurekaHighly cited patent families surfaced by the query
Citation-heavy patent families returned by the query. Use this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents.
STEUERUNGSVERFAHREN FÜR EIN LUFTQUELLENWÄRMEPUMPEN…
| # | Patent | Citations |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boosted air source heat pump | 121 |
| 2 | Apparatus and method for controlling a variable ai… | 78 |
| 3 | Compressor heat pump system with maximum and minim… | 78 |
| 4 | Cascading air-source heat pump | 66 |
| 5 | Heat pump/direct expansion heat pump heating, cool… | 66 |
| 6 | 一种空气源热泵机组及其化霜控制方法 | 57 |
| 7 | 一种基于图像识别技术的空气源热泵除霜系统及其控制方法 | 54 |
| 8 | Extended Range Heat Pump | 51 |
Ranked by total forward citations. Citation counts favour older and broadly cited patent families, and broad or adjacent patents may appear when they match the search scope. Treat this section as citation context, not as a curated list of the most topic-specific patents. Some patent titles may be shown in their original, non-English language where an accurate translation could not be guaranteed.
What the structure means for R&D investment decisions
The combination of growth-stage dynamics, a dominant Chinese filing base, and thin coverage in digital and AI control branches points to specific areas where investment is well-evidenced versus areas that remain open.
Growth stage with unabated annual momentum
The field carries a Growth lifecycle designation: annual filings have risen consistently from 2017 through the recorded 2024 peak of 128 families, and the 29% recent-window expansion confirms that activity is still accelerating. The 2025 and 2026 under-counts are a publication artefact, not a signal of deceleration. R&D investment entering now will encounter an active, not mature, prior-art environment.
Growth stageTop five hold 24% of the hundred largest filers’ output
The top five filers — Gree, Haier Smart Home, Qingdao Haier Air Conditioning Electronics, Qingdao Haier Air Conditioner General, and Guangdong Chigo — account for 24% of the combined output of the hundred largest filers. This is meaningful but not monopolistic; a dense mid-tier from rank 6 to 20 means the field is genuinely contested. New entrants face established blocking positions in core F25B subclasses but have more room in adjacent branches.
Moderate concentrationHaier group’s internal co-filing network is the dominant collaboration structure
The most active co-filing pairs are all within the Haier ecosystem: Haier Smart Home co-files with Qingdao Haier Air Conditioning Electronics (30 joint families), with Qingdao Haier Air Conditioner General (29), and between those two subsidiaries themselves (29). Secondary Haier pairs with Qingdao Economic and Technological Development Zone Haier Water Heater and Qingdao Haier Intelligent Technology R&D also appear prominently. Cross-group or university-industry collaborations are less prominent in the evidence, suggesting the dominant ecosystem is vertically integrated rather than open.
Internal ecosystemChina is the primary filing office; international presence is thin
China is overwhelmingly the lead jurisdiction, followed distantly by the United States, WIPO (PCT), and Europe (EPO). Canada, Australia, and South Korea register single-digit activity. The gap between the Chinese filing base and all other jurisdictions is large, meaning that non-Chinese markets — particularly Europe and North America — have limited prior-art density in this specific controls niche, which may reduce freedom-to-operate risk for entrants filing outside China.
China-centricGo beyond the landscape: Eureka’s TRIZ Solution agent breaks down an R&D problem and returns patented concept solutions, each with a technical approach and cited patent & literature evidence.
| Applicant | Collaborator | Co-filings |
|---|---|---|
| Haier Smart Home Co Ltd | Qingdao Haier Air Conditioning Electronics Co Ltd | 30 |
| Haier Smart Home Co Ltd | Qingdao Haier Air Conditioner General Corp Ltd | 29 |
| Qingdao Haier Air Conditioning Electronics Co Ltd | Qingdao Haier Air Conditioner General Corp Ltd | 29 |
| Haier Smart Home Co Ltd | Qingdao Economic and Technological Development Zone Haier Water Heater Co Ltd | 9 |
| Haier Smart Home Co Ltd | Qingdao Haier Intelligent Technology R&D Co Ltd | 8 |
| Qingdao Haier Air Conditioning Electronics Co Ltd | Qingdao Haier Intelligent Technology R&D Co Ltd | 8 |
| Qingdao Haier Air Conditioner General Corp Ltd | Qingdao Haier Intelligent Technology R&D Co Ltd | 8 |
| Qingdao Economic and Technological Development Zone Haier Water Heater Co Ltd | Qingdao Haier New Energy Electric Appliance Co Ltd | 7 |
| Haier Smart Home Co Ltd | Qingdao Haier New Energy Electric Appliance Co Ltd | 6 |
| Haier Smart Home Co Ltd | Qingdao Haier Intelligent Building Technology Co Ltd | 5 |
Co-filing pairs, ranked by the number of jointly-filed patent families.
Gree and Haier lead with strong momentum; Octopus Energy is a notable non-Chinese entrant
The two dominant platforms are Gree Electric Appliance and the Haier group (across multiple subsidiaries). Both are Chinese manufacturers with deep F25B refrigeration-control expertise and sharply accelerating recent filing rates.
Gree Electric Appliance
Gree Electric Appliance holds 60 patent families, the largest single-applicant position in the corpus. Its technology focus spans F25B 49 (refrigeration and heat pump control, 35 families), F24F 11 (air-conditioning and ventilation control, 29 families), and F25B 30 (18 families). Recent momentum is strong, with a recorded trend of +107% versus the prior three-year window, confirming that Gree is actively expanding its position rather than defending a static one.
families: 60Haier Smart Home
Haier Smart Home holds 39 patent families as the named parent entity, but its effective group footprint is substantially larger when Qingdao Haier Air Conditioning Electronics (31 families) and Qingdao Haier Air Conditioner General (29 families) are included. Haier Smart Home’s own technology focus mirrors Gree’s, centered on F25B 49 (31 families), F25B 30 (19 families), and F24F 11 (11 families). Its recent trend of +92% indicates accelerating investment. The dense internal co-filing network (up to 30 joint families per subsidiary pair) is a structural differentiator versus Gree’s more unified entity approach.
families: 39| Applicant | Recent (3 yrs) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Gree Electric Appliance Inc of Zhuhai | 29 | ▲ +107% |
| Haier Smart Home Co Ltd | 25 | ▲ +92% |
| Qingdao Haier Air Conditioning Electronics Co Ltd | 19 | ▲ +90% |
| Qingdao Haier Air Conditioner General Corp Ltd | 19 | ▲ new entrant |
| Zhejiang AMA & Hien Tech | 9 | ▲ new entrant |
| Zhejiang Zhongguang Electric Co Ltd | 12 | ▲ new entrant |
| Beijing University of Technology | 3 | ▼ -70% |
| Octopus Energy Heating Ltd | 17 | ▲ new entrant |
Domestic heating integration and solar-hybrid controls are under-served adjacent areas
Several IPC branches adjacent to the dominant F25B core show materially lower filing counts relative to their technical relevance, suggesting areas where prior-art density is lower and where differentiated coverage may be achievable.
F24D · Domestic heating systems integration
With 122 patent records across the corpus, F24D represents a secondary but real branch — roughly one-seventh the scale of F25B. Controls that coordinate air-source heat pumps with domestic hydronic heating circuits, underfloor heating, and buffer tanks are technically adjacent and commercially relevant as residential heat-pump adoption grows under electrification mandates. The lower filing density relative to F25B suggests that applicants focusing on system-level integration controls for domestic heating could find more navigable prior art than in the core refrigeration subclasses.
Search this in Eureka →F24S · Solar-hybrid heat pump controls
F24S (solar heat collectors) registers only 23 patent records in this corpus, one of the smallest adjacent branches with identifiable technical value. Photovoltaic-assisted or solar-thermal-boosted air-source heat pump systems require dedicated control logic for source-switching, priority management, and grid interaction — areas that overlap with H02J (power supply and grid systems, 16 records) and H02S (photovoltaic power generation, 10 records). The combination of low prior-art density across all three classes and growing policy interest in solar-heat-pump hybrids makes this an adjacent area worth monitoring, though the sparse evidence base means entry feasibility would need independent assessment.
Search this in Eureka →How leading applicants differ by technology subclass emphasis
Route coverage across the main technology branches in the current evidence set.
| Player | F25B 49 · Refrigeration & heat pumps | F25B 30 · Refrigeration & heat pumps | F24F 11 · Air conditioning & ventilation | F25B 47 · Refrigeration & heat pumps | F25B 41 · Refrigeration & heat pumps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gree Electric Appliance Inc of Zhuhai | Strong · 35 | Strong · 18 | Strong · 29 | Moderate · 14 | Moderate · 16 |
| Haier Smart Home Co Ltd | Strong · 31 | Strong · 19 | Moderate · 11 | Moderate · 10 | Moderate · 10 |
| Qingdao Haier Air Conditioning Electronics Co Ltd | Strong · 25 | Strong · 15 | Moderate · 8 | Moderate · 10 | Moderate · 10 |
| Qingdao Haier Air Conditioner General Corp Ltd | Strong · 24 | Strong · 14 | Moderate · 7 | Moderate · 9 | Moderate · 9 |
| Zhejiang Zhongguang Electric Co Ltd | Strong · 18 | Strong · 13 | Absent | Moderate · 9 | Moderate · 8 |
| Zhejiang AMA & Hien Tech | Strong · 18 | Absent | Absent | Strong · 10 | Moderate · 7 |
| Beijing University of Technology | Strong · 17 | Absent | Absent | Strong · 14 | Absent |
Frequently asked questions
The corpus covers 906 patent families in scope. China is the dominant filing office by a large margin, with the United States, WIPO (PCT), and Europe (EPO) representing much smaller secondary jurisdictions.
Gree Electric Appliance is the single largest filer with 60 patent families, followed by Haier Smart Home with 39. The Haier group’s total footprint is larger when its subsidiaries — Qingdao Haier Air Conditioning Electronics (31 families) and Qingdao Haier Air Conditioner General (29 families) — are counted alongside the parent.
The field carries a Growth lifecycle designation. Annual filings rose from 76 families in 2017 to a recorded high of 128 in 2024, with 29% expansion in the recent window. The 2025 and 2026 figures are under-counted due to publication lag and should not be read as a slowdown.
F25B (Refrigeration and heat pumps) dominates by a wide margin. Adjacent classes with materially lower coverage include F24D (Domestic heating systems, 122 records), F24S (Solar heat collectors, 23 records), and G06N (AI-based computing models, 14 records), all of which represent lower-density areas relative to their technical relevance to heat pump control.
The top five filers account for 24% of the combined output of the hundred largest filers. The field is meaningfully concentrated at the apex — Gree and Haier — but supports a dense mid-tier of 10–18 family filers across Chinese manufacturers and universities, making it contested rather than monopolistic.
Yes. China accounts for the overwhelming majority of patent records, while the United States, EPO, and WIPO each show single-digit to low-double-digit activity levels. The comparatively thin prior-art density in non-Chinese jurisdictions may reduce freedom-to-operate risk for entrants targeting those markets, particularly in Europe and North America where heat pump adoption is accelerating.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from PatSnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
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